Heretofore, it has been known to provide prepasted orthodontic appliances (appliances having uncured adhesive on the mounting side) to orthodontists for immediate mounting on teeth, without requiring the orthodontist to apply adhesive, like the appliances disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,204,325 and 4,978,007. Such prepasted orthodontic appliances include a body provided with an uncured layer of chemically curable or light-curable adhesive on the mounting side which when cured attaches and secures the appliance to a tooth. It is well known that this type of an orthodontic appliance generally includes a metal mesh base to which the uncured layer of adhesive is applied prior to being sold to an orthodontist. And it is known that such an adhesive may be light-curable, chemically curable, or heat-curable, although light-curable adhesives like disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,007 patent are preferred.
An appliance with a cured polymer resin base has also been known for a ceramic orthodontic bracket, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,098,288 and 5,263,859, wherein the base facilitates removal of the bracket from the tooth without damaging the tooth. Such brackets have been sold by TP Orthodontics, Inc. of LaPorte, Ind., under the trademark Mxi. The bases of these brackets have been transparent and translucent as disclosed in copending applications Ser. No. 10/120,052 filed Apr. 10, 2002, and Ser. No. 10/224,770 filed Aug. 21, 2002, which applications are assigned to TP Orthodontics, Inc., like the present application, and are incorporated herein by reference.